Abstract:

The SPF chickens in the experiment were challenged intraocularly with La Sota strain of NDV， after 8 h of infection with NDV，chickens were treated by drinking water containing 1000 U/mL rChIFN-α. The total dose of rChIFN-α administered orally was about 20000 U/chicken every 24 h. The tracheal tissues were taken and histopathological sections were prepared at 7th day post-infection. The histopathological lesion in tracheal was ameliorated significantly in chickens drinking IFN-contained water for 3 days. The effect of orally administered rChIFN-α on the antibody response to NDV was studied， and the results showed that the HI titer in NDV infected chickens treated orally with rChIFN-α was significantly down-regulated.

Key words: chicken recombinant interferon-α; Newcastle disease virus; oral administration; tracheal histopathology; HI antibody titer